text:
The government and private sector have been doing their best for the revival of the flagging tourism sector that was hit hard by the devastating earthquakes and tensions at the border points last year. Tourist flow in 2015 declined by 33 per cent and income from tourism sector slumped by around 22 per cent as compared to previous year. As compared to annual inflow of 538,970 tourists in 2015, the country has witnessed inflow of 313,512 tourists in the first six months of 2016. The tourism fraternity has expected the tourist flow to rise during peak season from September to mid-November, but hotel entrepreneurs have said that average occupancy rate of hotels in peak season is just around 65 per cent. Pushpa Raj Acharya and Sujan Dhungana of The Himalayan Times caught up with Shankar Prasad Adhikari, Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation and Amar Man Shakya, President of Hotel Association Nepal, to know more on why the recovery in the tourism sector has been slow and what needs to be further done to harness the potential of this sector. Excerpts:
‘Nepal has enough opportunities to tap tourists who visit other South Asian nations’
— Shankar Prasad Adhikari
Tourist arrivals have not been encouraging this year despite various efforts made for the revival of this sector. Where are we lagging behind and what has government been doing to increase number of arrivals?
We all know that earthquake and supply line disruptions last year hit the tourism sector badly and we are still feeling the effects of those major shocks. Arrival of tourists in the first six months of 2016 increased by 15 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last year. We have to take this on a positive note because this shows the tourism sector is gradually recovering. There have been various efforts made by the government and private sector for the revival of tourism sector. Though Nepal is one of the top tourist destinations in global rankings released by various agencies, the country has been attracting only 5.7 per cent of the total tourists who visit South Asia and the country shares only 1.7 per cent of the total income that South Asia earns from tourism every year. This means the country has enough opportunity to tap tourists who visit South Asia. To explore the potential and spread the message of revitalisation of the country’s tourism sector, we are going to organise ‘Visit Nepal 2018’. But the fact is that Nepal is in the least priority of tourists in South Asia due to the expensive air fare in Kathmandu sector. We also have to strengthen tourism marketing in various source countries from where tourists come to Nepal.
Have you seen any weakness in the private sector that has been affecting flow of tourists to Nepal?
Private sector is doing a wonderful job to bring more tourists to Nepal and tourist flow in the country is gradually rising. We have various constraints as I mentioned earlier, like expensive air fare, lack of tourism destinations and services to expand stay of tourists and their expenses. Private sector always seeks returns while making investments. And there is very good expansion of the private sector businesses associated with tourism like hotel, trekking, aviation and others in the country. I am quite impressed with the expansion of the hotel sector. More international hotel chains are coming to Nepal and quality of services has also improved in recent years. Previously, there used to be numerous complaints regarding quality of food and beverages. Hospitality business is a very tough business and that’s why entrepreneurs must always be conscious about quality of services they offer to foreign travellers in the country. High quality service is essential to bring high-end tourists and that is where we need to focus. Many countries in the world are focusing on high-yield tourists rather than back-packers also from the perspective of conservation of tourist destinations.
While talking about attracting high-end tourists, Nepal’s wildlife tourism is one of the areas for this. But the government has been barring tourism entrepreneurs from operating hotels and resorts inside national parks and wildlife reserves?
This issue has not been settled due to conflicting interests of two ministries — Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation and the Tourism Ministry. Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation talks only from the perspective of conservation and we argue that we need to take optimum advantage of the resources along with conservation. We developed tourism concessional manual when I was secretary at the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation. We have commissioned studies of the potential tourism activities in each national park and wildlife reserve and developed manual to award contracts to the interested parties to conduct various tourism activities in the protected areas along with conservation. But the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation has not made any decision on it. I think when a decision remains pending due to conflicting interests of various agencies then national priority needs to prevail there.
Tourism Vision 2020 has envisioned to bring two million tourists by 2020. Do you think the country will be able to achieve this target?
Tourism industry of Nepal has been facing challenges time and again due to national and international circumstances. It was badly affected by the decade-long insurgency that ended in 2005 but then after the global financial crisis started from 2008, which affected the number of outbound travellers for another two to three years. To make matters worse, the country’s tourism industry was again rocked by the earthquake and border tensions last year. Against this backdrop, the government is going to organise ‘Visit Nepal’ campaign in 2018 to promote Nepal as an attractive tourism destination in the world. The target set by Tourism Vision 2020 seems somewhat ambitious but it is not impossible. Before the earthquake, around 800,000 tourists used to visit Nepal every year. I think it is possible to increase the number by two-fold within 2020 but we need to invest in tourism related infrastructure and develop more tourism destinations in country.
‘We couldn’t promote country’s tourism after earthquake’
— Amar Shakya
Tourism in Nepal including hospitality industry took a nosedive due to the earthquake last year followed by the blockade in the southern border points. Is the sector recovering well?
Tourism and hospitality were among the major sectors that were hit hard by the earthquake and the border blockade last year. Even data shows number of tourists fell by almost 50 per cent in 2015 compared to the tourist arrival figure of 2014. As of today, the sector is reviving. However, the revival process is very slow. The reason behind this tepid revival process is our inability to promote Nepali tourism after the quake. We should have promoted Nepal as a tourist destination after the earthquake. But due to our failure to organise ample branding activities timely, the tourism industry is still struggling to fulfil the gaps created by the earthquake and the border blockade last year. The government, especially Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), should have come up with tourism revival plans and programmes. However, efforts made by NTB are not quite satisfactory.
Despite your pessimistic note, a number of international hotel chains like Marriot and Sheraton have made investments in the country. Doesn’t this show country’s tourism sector is reviving?
Big investors and international hotel chains coming to Nepal and making investments is a thing to cheer about. However, we all should understand that increasing number of hotels makes less sense to tourism industry if we are unable to increase flow of tourists for whom these hotels are targeted. We should be able to increase occupancy rate among hotels accordingly along with increasing number of hotels. As of 2015, there are more than 917 hotels across the country with total bed capacity and room capacity of 35,920 and 22,860, respectively. This shows that hotels in Nepal have quite good capacity to accommodate a huge number of tourists. But to the contrary, the flow of tourists in the country is low. This shows that the supply-demand chain in Nepal’s tourism sector is not functioning well.
Around 4,000 star rooms will be added by different new hotels within 2020. Will the current flow of tourists be able to meet occupancy rates of these additional rooms?
No, this is not possible. We received five lakh tourists in 2015 and the number is expected to reach six million this year. However, such tepid flow does not ensure full occupancy of existing hotels and new hotels in Nepal in future. If all of these rooms are to be occupied, we need two million tourists to visit the country by 2020 and all of us should start doing homework to make this happen. The current ways in which the government is promoting tourism sector is not good enough for the hospitality sector of the country. If the government is not serious enough in promoting tourism sector then the new investments made in hotels could go in a loss.
What is the occupancy rate in the hotel sector at present?
The occupancy rate is gradually increasing compared to the previous year. As of today this year, the occupancy rate among the country’s hotels is around 65 per cent compared to an average occupancy rate of 35 per cent in 2015.
What do you feel should the government do to promote Nepal’s tourism sector?
The first and foremost thing is again promotion and branding. We lack enough branding about our country, tourist destinations, cultural heritage sites, among others in the international market. The responsibility to promote country’s tourism sector lies with the government. International associations and tourists have more trust on the government than private sector. However, private sector is always ready to work together with the government to promote country’s tourism. As the flow of tourists from China and India is high in Nepal as compared to other nations, we can increase promotional campaigns in these two countries and other South Asian nations. Tourism promotional campaigns should also be done in other continents. The Indian government has been giving leave travel allowance to government employees every year to encourage Indian people to visit tourist destinations across the world. But India has not placed Nepal under potential tourism country to visit. The government should enlist Nepal under potential tourism country through bilateral efforts.
How do you analyse the status of tourism infrastructure in Nepal?
The tourism infrastructure in Nepal is a major setback to tourism growth. The condition of the only international airport — Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) — is bleak in terms of both service and facilities for visiting tourists. Services and facilities inside TIA should be of international standard. Similarly, tourism sector of any country heavily depends on the strength of the national flag carrier of that country. Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) is currently weak and flies to very few destinations. We don’t have direct flights to Kathmandu from a majority of countries across the world. This directly affects the flow of tourists to Nepal. People do not like hassles while travelling, and thus, they do not prefer to visit countries if they don’t have direct flights to the destination. HAN believes that NAC should at least add two narrow-body and two wide-body aircraft to its fleet and increase direct flights to and from different nations across the world.
What is HAN doing to promote country’s tourism sector?
As the government has not been helping promote the country’s tourism sector properly, HAN is planning to promote Nepal’s tourism working together with all tourism related associations and institutions working in Nepal. With a collective effort, we are planning to introduce different campaigns in neighbouring countries soon.


text:
TORONTO (Reuters) – Shaw Communications Inc , the dominant cable company in Western Canada, said on Thursday its fourth-quarter profit slipped as heightened competition drained away customers, and its shares fell after release of the results.
Calgary, Alberta-based Shaw said it lost almost 30,000 cable-TV subscribers and fewer than 1,000 subscribers from its smaller satellite-TV business.
Shaw is facing fierce competition from telecom company Telus Corp , which offers wireless phone services on top of TV, landline phone and Internet services. Shaw abandoned plans to build a wireless phone network last year, restricting its ability to match Telus in offering discounted packages to customers.
"We expect the environment to remain challenging over the coming year," Chief Executive Brad Shaw said in the earnings release.
Shaw, which also operates Canada's Global TV network, said net income in the quarter declined to C$117 million ($112.62 million), or 24 Canadian cents a share, from C$133 million, or 28 Canadian cents a share, a year earlier.
Revenue rose 3 percent to C$1.25 billion.
Analysts had, on average, expected Shaw to earn 33 Canadian cents a share on revenue of C$1.24 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Shares in the company fell 3 percent to C$24.55 in early trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Shaw's media division, which operates specialty channels such as HGTV Canada, Food Network Canada, History and Showcase, recorded a 6.5 percent jump in revenue as it was able to raise subscriber prices, while advertising sales also increased.
Shaw expects to collect some C$800 million combined from sales of some specialty channels to Corus Entertainment and a cable unit to Rogers Communications Inc . It will spend up to C$500 million of that to improve its networks.
The wireless airwaves that Shaw bought in an auction in 2008 may prove more difficult to dispose of, however, with the federal government making it clear it does not want the spectrum to be taken over by one of the country's three dominant wireless providers. They are Telus, Rogers and BCE Inc .
The company had planned to sell the spectrum, which was set aside by the government for new entrants to the wireless market, to Rogers, Canada's largest wireless company.
Shaw said it expects growth in revenue and adjusted operating income before amortization of between 2 and 4 percent in fiscal 2014.
Shaw added a net 10,564 Internet subscribers in the quarter, bringing the total to 1.89 million, and a net 4,722 landline telephone subscribers for a total of 1.36 million.
(Reporting by Alastair Sharp; Editing by Peter Galloway)

domain: news


text:
Internet, Email Force USPS to Cut Saturday First-Class Deliveries Starting August 1
February 6, 2013 10:28 AM
comment(s) - last by
It will save USPS $2 billion annually
Many aspects of our lives have made a
over the last decade or so. We no longer rent physical movies from the video store; we watch them on Netflix or Hulu. We no longer get subscriptions for or pick up the daily newspaper; we read the news online. We don't run to the bank as often for daily finances; we jump on our smartphone, tablet or computer for online banking.
The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is seeing these shifts in technology as well, but
can't seem to keep up
. Many letters, bills, etc. can now be sent electronically rather than through the mail. Hence, in an effort to save some serious money, USPS will no longer deliver mail on Saturdays starting August 1, 2013.
down to five days per week will save USPS about $2 billion annually. For fiscal 2012, USPS saw a net loss of $15.9 billion (three times the loss record one year previous).
While mail delivery is getting axed, USPS plans to continue package delivery on Saturdays since this particular area has seen a 14 percent increase since 2010. Mail will also still be delivered to P.O. boxes six days per week as well.
In addition, post offices will remain open on Saturdays to allow customers to drop mail/packages off, access post office boxes or buy postage stamps -- although hours will likely be cut.
USPS is expected to give an official announcement today without explicit congressional approval. Lawmakers have said this approval is necessary for a change like cutting Saturday mail delivery, but the USPS is arguing this claim.
As far as the American people go, USPS expects some opposition from those like rural communities that worry a change in scheduling could make low-cost deliveries of items like medication a thing of the past, and publishers who will have to adjust schedules with publication deadlines.
Just last month, it was reported that
USPS wanted to be more digital-friendly
in order to keep up with the times. The agency is working on a digital platform called MyPost, which will allow customers to log in and view all packages that they'll be receiving as well as those they've already received instead of searching several different sites that the packages may be coming from.
However, Paul Vogel, president of digital solutions at USPS, revealed that his office is like "a San Jose startup," with only 15 Android/Apple developers, consultants coming and going, one computer and his BlackBerry smartphone. Technological restrictions make upgrading hard to come by.
A few other major obstacles are legislation needed to get permission for new digital products, the USPS' huge instruction manual for just handful of current products (adding digital products and security certifications would turn that 1,500 page book into something unimaginable), and USPS' losses of nearly $16 billion last year led to legislative proposals to
keep making cuts
(hence, more digital tech may not be in the cards right now).
Boston Business Journal
This article is over a month old, voting and posting comments is disabled
RE: Dont blame the internet and email
2/6/2013 4:32:34 PM
I feel for you, but to be honest, I wouldn't have sent it USPS if it absolutely had to be there that soon.
FedEx and UPS specialize in package delivery. USPS deals not only with packages but millions and millions of letters and junk mailers.
One day delivery is NOT a USPS specialty, even if they offer it, and weekend deliver is even trickier.
Realistic expectations would tell me....USPS is not the Go-To when it absolutely has to be there the next day. I'm sure USPS was less expensive than FedEX, but you had to weight the cost with the importance of getting it there overnight.
Sorry again for your experience but I think you put too much trust in them getting it there that fast.
"We shipped it on Saturday. Then on Sunday, we rested." -- Steve Jobs on the iPad launch
Quick Note: PlayStation 4 Unveil Could Come May 2013 or Sooner
January 16, 2013, 12:42 PM
USPS to Make First-Class Delivery Cuts in Spring; Could Affect Netflix, Gamefly
December 5, 2011, 1:25 PM
USPS Pilot Program Offers Free Mail-in Electronics Recycling
March 18, 2008, 1:46 PM
Quick Note: Amazon UK Offers £10 Back on Any Order £50 or Over
August 3, 2015, 12:05 PM
Editorial: Reddit Allows Itself to be Hijacked as a Hate Platform For Racist Bigots
July 21, 2015, 6:32 PM
Mozilla and Facebook to Adobe: It's Time to Kill Flash
July 20, 2015, 6:30 PM
Instagram Bans "Curvy" From Hashtag Searches, Provokes "Plus Sized" Outrage
July 16, 2015, 1:20 PM
Mozilla Promise Punctual Windows 10 Firefox Release, Teases at iOS Arrival
July 7, 2015, 3:08 PM
Netflix Announces 7-to-1 Stock Split, Eyes Explosive Overseas Growth
June 23, 2015, 8:18 PM
Most Popular Articles
Windows 10 Hits 75 Million Users; Grows Nearly 4x as Fast as Windows 7
August 28, 2015, 10:22 PM
Kentucky Man Faces up to 10 Years in Prison for Shooting Drone Trespasser
August 13, 2015, 2:58 PM
Microsoft's Flagship Windows10 Lumias Rumored to Pack 25 Minute Charge Times
August 31, 2015, 8:13 PM
Report: Over 25 Million Devices Upgraded to Windows 10... or Was It 67 Million?
August 7, 2015, 3:24 PM
Microsoft Announces $499 Xbox One "ELITE", w/ High-End Controller, Hybrid HDD
August 31, 2015, 3:29 PM
Latest Blog Posts
Sceptre Airs 27", 120 Hz. 1080p Monitor/HDTV w/ 5 ms Response Time for $220
Dec 3, 2014, 10:32 PM
Costco Gives Employees Thanksgiving Off; Wal-Mart Leads "Black Thursday" Charge
Oct 29, 2014, 9:57 PM
"Bear Selfies" Fad Could Turn Deadly, Warn Nevada Wildlife Officials
Oct 28, 2014, 12:00 PM
The Surface Mini That Was Never Released Gets "Hands On" Treatment
Sep 26, 2014, 8:22 AM
ISIS Imposes Ban on Teaching Evolution in Iraq
Sep 17, 2014, 5:22 PM
More Blog Posts
Copyright 2015 DailyTech LLC. -
Terms, Conditions & Privacy Information


text:
A job placement service that allows people to continue their careers without having to sacrifice time with their families.
Mobile apps developed by local entrepreneurs that help businesses and families connect with one another.
Those ideas were just some of the pitches made by 30 seed stage startups at The Living Room, a renovated event space in a former furniture factory in north downtown Omaha. Each startup that came to Wednesday’s Get Started Omaha event sought to provide a solution to problems faced by individuals and families.
“A lot of the startups we talked to are solving pain points that they have felt themselves,” said Kellee Mikuls, CEO and co-founder of Swishboom.
Swishboom is a startup that seeks to expand parents’ network of trustworthy babysitters via an app. Mikuls and co-founder Richard Tom, who also is her brother-in-law, won a $25,000 grand prize at Wednesday’s competition.
People are also reading…
Some startup executives acknowledge their surprise when they say that few, if any, other companies and individuals already have addressed the problems they’re looking to solve. Those executives include Air Traffic Awareness co-founders Cameron Knight and Tonderai Kambarami, who gave a presentation on an affordable modern visual system to help private pilots avoid aircraft collisions.
“It’s really bonkers,” Knight said.
For other startups, the COVID-19 pandemic has provided opportunities to put their visions into practice. Co-founded by Jina Hwang and Jessica Charlsen, Job Share Connect seeks to connect employees with employers that are willing to provide flexibility by allowing multiple people to fill one full-time position.
By providing that flexibility, the co-founders said, employers could address labor shortages.
Charlsen said Job Share Connect has placed about a dozen people with primarily small businesses and is looking to partner with businesses nationally.
HerHeadquarters, a startup founded by Carina Glover, has been able to help small businesses grow through partnerships that complement each other’s strengths.
For example, Glover said women in Houston and San Francisco who connected through HerHeadquarters grew their respective businesses by collaborating on creating a successful beauty product.
“They discovered opportunities that weren’t previously on their radar because their focus was local,” she said.
Technology advances have helped a startup like Impower Health market a treadmill that CEO and President Doug Miller said automatically adjusts to a person’s pace. That technology, Miller said, is helpful to people with physical ailments.
The efforts that local and regional startups are making to solve problems are a reflection of the area’s startup culture, Proven Ventures co-founder Erica Wassinger said.
“I think, by and large, Nebraska and Midwest founders are really good at trying to solve a problem,” she said.
Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of March 2022
Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.


text:
This month, Perfumer & Flavorist+ presents its annual Leaders & Newsmakers issue (Page 16), highlighting the triumphs, pivots and goals of industry leaders amid unprecedented times. Senior-level executives offer their thoughts on recent accomplishments and offer insights into the future of their companies and the industry at large. Collectively, their commentaries paint a portrait of an innovative, resilient and increasingly sustainable industry.
World Perfumery Congress 2022 Announced
Did you hear the news? The World Perfumery Congress (WPC) is returning June 29-July 1, 2022 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
This rescheduling allows us to prioritize the safety of our attendees, while ensuring the quality content and networking opportunities guests have come to expect from the WPC.
As always, the WPC will feature a lineup of the industry’s global innovation leaders, including perfumers, R&D specialists, marketers and product developers, executives, market analysts and more. Sign up to the pre-registration list to be the first to learn about speakers, announcements, special features and more (www.WorldPerfumeryCongress.com).
More details will be announced soon regarding calls for speaker submissions. Until, then, mark your calendars—we can’t wait to be reunited!
Flavorcon 2021 Updates
But first, we are just four months away from P&F+’s Flavorcon (www.flavorcon.com), set for November 16-17, 2021. Attendees will hear from experts from the flavor and consumer goods industries from the comfort of their home or office during this virtual event. Speakers are bursting at the seams to share their knowledge on issues, trends and breakthroughs from the flavor, food and beverage markets. We will also host a live Q&A with Top Chef competitor, Jeffrey Jew. Pre-registration is now open (https://bit.ly/3bp1bEU). More details to come with the full speaker lineup and tickets.


text:
Students at Pershore College have been undertaking research to see if growing food both without soil and during the winter could make the UK more self-sufficient when it comes to feeding the nation.
Agri-Tech degree students Tom Genever and Nick Monkton have been conducting pea plant trials grown hydroponically at the college’s Agri-Tech Research Centre.
Hydroponics is a method of growing plants without using soil, whereby plants are grown with only their roots exposed to nutrient solutions, and may also be supported by inert material such as coconut coir or vermiculite.
The students have been monitoring the crop that was planted in the centre’s outdoor vertical farming facilities in November. The aim is to see if pea plants can be grown in a system where produce is stacked in vertical layers without the use of soil.
Tom, age 22 from Peopleton said: “We are investigating the potential for the UK’s food producers to cultivate overwintering vegetables in our outdoor hydroponic tunnel using a system of vertical farming. This has the potential to replace crops that would be flown into the UK from overseas from Kenya or Guatemala.”
“Normally, this plant can be overwintered in the UK but wouldn’t flower until the spring. We found that our protected unheated trial crop was already flowering by January or February and producing fruits in March.”
The UK is currently reliant on importing much of its fresh grown produce during the winter months. According to the British Growers Association it is only 40% self-sufficient in indigenous fruit supply and less than 60% self-sufficient in vegetable & salads.
Tom’s fellow student Nick Monkton, age 21, from Bewdley said: “The country’s self-sufficiency in food has been declining over the last 30 years and the government acknowledges that climate change will present significant risks to our food supply. The UK needs new food production technology that can provide sustainable food production systems.”
Roy Kennedy, Professor in Agri-Tech research and development at Pershore College said: “As part of the food production module of their Agri-Tech degree course, Tom and Nick are investigating the potential for the UK to grow sustainably-produced overwintered crops which would normally be imported into the UK during the winter months. So far they are finding that peas would be a good candidate for substitution of imported fresh produce.
“Other vegetable and fruit crops are being investigated for their potential for import substitution during the off-season. Hydroponic production regimes appear to give advantages to some cultivars resulting in cropping under lower light and at lower day and night temperatures.”
The Agri-Tech foundation degree at Pershore College is a two-year course aimed at providing students with knowledge and skills needed to succeed in today’s horticultural industry. Modules include agri-tech mechatronics, global food security and soil science technology.
Nick and Tom both completed a Level 3 diploma in Horticulture at Pershore before progressing to the foundation degree. Nick said: “I like the variety of lectures on urban horticulture, community gardening and soil health as well as the practical outdoor activities. The course gives you gateways into other areas like agronomy or starting your own business. It’s a good choice for anyone who cares about our environmental problems and wants to be part of developing sustainable food production solutions.”
Tom is also really enjoying his studies and is currently weighing up whether to continue with research when he graduates or start his own vertical farming enterprise. He said: “I wasn’t really aware that this sort of course existed until I started doing the Level 3 Horticulture course when I left school. It lays a very good foundation for the problems you would face in the industry as well as providing you with the technical skills. It has definitely given me the confidence to think about starting my own growing business and I’d recommend it to anyone who is interested in farming, food production or sustainability.”


text:
A popular brand of hummus is being pulled from store shelves after it was found to pose a potential health risk. Sainsbury's on Monday, April 18 voluntarily recalled Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Pesto Swirled Houmous due to the presence of an undeclared allergen. The product contains milk, which was not declared on the label and the presence of which can pose a health risk for those with an allergy or intolerance to milk.
A recall notice posted by the UK's Food Standards Agency informed consumers of the recall. The specific product impacted by the recall is the 200 gram size Taste The Difference Pesto Swirled Houmous. The products included in the recall have the "use by" date of 20 April 2022, 22 April 2022, and 23 April 2022. It is unclear how many units are impacted by the recall.
The recall was issued after Sansibury's learned the products "contain Milk which is not declared on the packaging." The undeclared allergen could prove dangerous and potentially life-threatening for those people with a milk allergy. Milk allergy is one of the most common food allergies in children, according to Mayo Clinic. Symptoms differ from person to person and occur a few minutes to a few hours after consumption of milk or a milk product. Signs and symptoms of a milk allergy range from mild to severe and can include wheezing, vomiting, hives and digestive problems. In some instances, milk consumption can cause anaphylaxis, a life-threatening reaction that narrows the airways and can block breathing. Mayo Clinic notes that "milk is the third most common food – after peanuts and tree nuts – to cause anaphylaxis."
Due to the undeclared allergen and the health risk it poses to those with an allergy or intolerance to milk, consumers who have an allergy or intolerance to milk or milk constituents and who purchased the recalled Sainsbury's Taste the Difference Pesto Swirled Houmous are being urged not to consume the product. Consumers can return the recalled product to the store from where it was bought for a full refund. The company has also issued a point-of-sale notice to its customers, which explains "to customers why the product is being recalled and tell them what to do if they have bought the product." Consumers with further questions regarding the recall visit the Sainsbury's website Sainsburys.co.uk/help or contact the company's Careline at 080- 636262.


text:
Toronto, Canada, June 05, 2013 --(PR.com
)-- PROFIT Magazine today ranked Tangentia, No. 9 on the 25th annual PROFIT 500, the definitive ranking of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies. Published in the Summer issue of PROFIT Magazine and online at PROFITguide.com, the PROFIT 500 ranks Canadian businesses by their revenue growth over five years.
Tangentia, a leading boutique IT consulting and outsourcing firm made the PROFIT 500 list with five-year revenue growth of 3453%.
“To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Fastest-Growing Companies in Canada, the PROFIT 500 has expanded to recognize the entrepreneurial achievements of more than 500 Canadian companies,” says Ian Portsmouth, Editor-in-Chief of PROFIT Magazine. “PROFIT is proud to now showcase Canada’s forward-thinking small business entrepreneurs and honour their talents and innovations.”
“Tangentia is honored and privileged to be on the PROFIT 500 ranking,” says Managing Partner, Vijay Thomas. “This achievement is the result of the dedication of our worldwide team and global ecosystem partners.” Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Tangentia has associates & ecosystem partners operating globally, with a presence in 5 continents and 30+ countries, offering a "think global, act local" solutions approach.
A Premier Partner of IBM, Tangentia’s areas of focus include e-Commerce, B2B & EDI, Enterprise & Cloud Security (IAM), Service Oriented Architecture (SOA), Cloud Infrastructure & Cloud Integration, Business Analytics (BA) and Application Development across multiple industries like Banking & Financial Services &Insurance(BFSI), Retail, Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG),Telecom, Healthcare and Government.Learn more atwww.tangentia.com
About PROFIT Magazine and PROFITguide.com
PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success is Canada’s preeminent publication dedicated to the management issues and opportunities facing small and mid-sized businesses. For 31 years, Canadian entrepreneurs and senior managers across a vast array of economic sectors have remained loyal to PROFIT because it’s a timely and reliable source of actionable information that helps them achieve business success and get the recognition they deserve for generating positive economic and social change. Visit PROFIT online at www.PROFITguide.com
Sachin Rustagi, Senior Marketing Advisor email@example.com


text:
VeganNation, creators of a popular tokenized vegan ecosystem that uses the cryptocurrency VeganCoin has added three-time World Cup finalist and two-time champion, Brazilian football star – Cafu to its advisory board. He rose from poverty growing up in the Jardim Irene favela of São Paulo to go on to represent Brazil with 142 appearances for the national team. He is the most internationally capped Brazilian player of all time.
“Education is the first step towards change and I fully support VeganNation on this matter,” says Cafu.
“What’s happening in the Amazon is a huge concern, not only for us Brazilians but to anyone who cares about planet Earth. We should all care about our planet, and that’s why education is such an important step. Once we all agree on the importance of caring about how we treat our planet, we’ll start seeing real change.”
The company’s new addition aims to strengthen VeganNation’s environmental efforts for sustainability and conserving the Amazon.
“Brazil’s passion for football is well known around the world, and we believe that channeling that same energy on environmental efforts could make a huge impact,” says Isaac Thomas, CEO and Co-Founder of VeganNation.
“We’re really looking forward to working together with such an important figure in Brazilian football history such as Cafu, and having the support of the four biggest football teams in Brazil is an amazing opportunity for us to spread the word on sustainability and vegan lifestyle.”
The announcement follows the “Shalom Game” at Haifa’s Sammy Ofer Stadium on Tuesday, where Cafu and other ex-Brazilian stars played together against former Israeli professionals to promote coexistence between the two countries.
Brazilian football legend Cafu will support VeganNation’s efforts to save the Amazon rainforest and help spread awareness about sustainable activities by launching education programs aimed at educating fans on topics such as plastic utilization, recycling, food choices and more. Cafu has played more international matches for Brazil than any other player in the country’s history. Over a period of 16 years, he played in a record 142 games and three World Cup Finals – winning in 1994 and 2002.
The company has recently secured a 10-year lease to preserve 15,000 acres of the Amazon rainforest. As part of the deal, the land will be open to preservation groups and activists, while ensuring no one, including the government, can cut down trees, exploit the land, or kill any animals.
Here’s a quick rundown on the VeganCoin project.
- Total Tokens Planned: 1 billion
- Underlying Blockchain: Ethereum
- Soft/Hard Caps: $10m/$60m
- Token Symbol: VCN (but should totally be VGN!)
- Website: www.vegannation.io
- Telegram: t.me/vegannation
- Twitter: @Vegan_Coin
- Whitepaper: VeganNation Greenpaper
VeganNation is implementing change with the creation of the first-ever fully vegan economy, equipped with its own traceable digital currency and a social marketplace that includes vegan products and food-sharing marketplace. The platform uses blockchain technology to ensure a transparent supply chain and provide a designated coin that serves the community members’ transactional needs with the VeganNation digital wallet.


text:
Following on from the Electronic Commerce Act 2000 and the UK’s first case of database infringement, the Government has just published a review of the regulations on online gambling which will have implications for online shopping and data protection in general. Helen Brown talks to Barry Fishley, the IT partner for Weil Gotshal and Manges about the new proposals …
“The government review of online gambling regulation, published this week, may not be noticed by too many lawyers,” says Barry Fishley, partner in Weil Gotshal IT department, “but it may have implications for all sorts of online shopping and data protection issues. It seems to me that it’s all good news for the consumer.” This is good news, when you consider that an estimated £500 billion will be gambled online around the world.
“The review follows directly on from last year’s Electronic Commerce Act, and is pretty sensible. They’re aiming to regulate and clarify things as far as is practical.”
“One of the interesting angles,” says Fishley, “is that they have said that they will be testing all of the UK online gambling systems for resilience and security. It will be interesting to see what standards they will be requiring and also, if this is going to be done by the Gambling Commission. Then we need to ask who’s going to finance that commission. It would be a pretty major operation.”
The other issue raised is that of data and database protection. Fishley explains that “This review reinforces the Data Protection Act 1998 in that it makes clear that information given to online gambling operators cannot be passed on to other companies without consent. For example, if you ask for credit with an online gambler, your details would be of particular interest to other credit advisors and lenders.”
“Although we will have to wait for more details as the government take this forward,” says Fishley, “this heightened awareness of data protection and consent implied by the review does also apply to any online shopping sites and so on. Of course, if your data protection rights are infringed in this way the level of compensation an individual could claim would be relatively small.”
This review comes just after a ruling on the UK’s first case to consider a contested claim of database infringement. The British Horseracing Board Limited (BHB) maintain a detailed database of racing fixtures. David Meredith, partner at Kemp Little (a firm which advises online gambling operators) says that, “The BHB receives around £1million per year in database license fees from the racing industry and the media. Bookmakers can access this information indirectly from data feeds provided by the BHB’s licensees.”


text:
The note taking application is now being made available for Android 2.3 Gingerbread or high running devices with a limit of up to 500 notes maximum.
Microsoft has released the OneNote Mobile version for the Google Android based smartphones and tablets. The OneNote Mobile is a note-taking application that comes pre-loaded on the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango based devices. It is already available on the Apple iOS devices. The free version of OneNote Mobile allows users to create, edit and access up to 500 notes only. Microsoft OneNote Mobile is a free app available for Android 2.3 Gingerbread or higher.
Amongst the crowd of several note-taking applications and prominent ones like Evernote for Android, the software giant Microsoft has placed its best bet - OneNote Mobile. Users need a Windows Live ID for using the OneNote Mobile so that the notes can be stored online on the Windows SkyDrive - personal cloud storage space.
With the OneNote Mobile, users can take images or write down notes to be synced with the SkyDrive storage online. Over here, Microsoft has levied a limit of up to 500 notes that can be accessible, edited or created using one account. For unlocking more storage options, users will have to opt for the in-app purchase option.
It is indeed interesting to see Microsoft betting to set space in the online storage market place where players like Evernote have been established already and offer more features. However, the availability of the OneNote on Android platform with OneNote 2010 compatibility certainly adds much value to the app.
The last week of July saw several devices getting launched in India.
Some of these are earlier launched in international markets and now set be launching in India while few will be revealed for the first time.
Nexus Marlin and Nexus Sailfish will be built with different materials.
Meanwhile, a promo video of Oppo F1s has been posted on YouTube by Oppo Malaysia that shows the F1s in full glory.
The video shows how the Unity engine game is launched on the Samsung Z2.
Here are five phones under Rs 10,000 with 4000 mAh or bigger batteries.
LeEco will launch 2-3 smart TVs in India in August which will be above 40 inches.
Yesterday, Lenovo Vibe P2 was spotted on GeekBench bench-marking website.
Xiaomi decided to develop its own VR headset as existing devices are not compatible with its MIUI interface.
The Xiaomi Redmi 3S comes in three colors - Dark Grey, Silver and Gold colors.


text:
Under the Open Compute Project (OCP), Facebook and its partners are committed to developing and sharing designs for compute, storage and general data center infrastructure — not just the servers themselves, but the chassis and racks they sit in and their associated power and cooling.
Servers based on Open Compute's Freedom design are in service in Facebook's North Carolina and Prineville, Oregon data centres, and will fill Facebook's Swedish Lulea data center. Likewise a data center owned by hosted services giant Rackspace, one of the board members of the OCP foundation, will in a few weeks begin using servers based on a mix of the Freedom specification and Rackspace's own design, and an OCP storage system.
But what is the role for Open Compute hardware beyond Facebook and Rackspace, and could open-source hardware become the norm inside the data center?
Mark Roenigk, COO of Rackspace, is bullish about the rate of Open Compute adoption, saying he believes Open Compute certified hardware could become mainstream within three years — a quarter of the time it took for Linux to reach a similar level of adoption as a server OS, he says.
"We will see significant Open Compute infrastructure by that time," he says. "I think we'd be approaching between 35 and 50 per cent of new installations of servers."
Since initial adoption of Open Compute hardware will most likely be by large web and hosting companies, which have much to gain from minimising running costs of their large IT estate through custom data center designs, Roenigk says OCP hardware adoption will be tied to their refresh cycles — which range from about 19 months for large web companies to about four years for Rackspace, according to Roenigk.
Cost is a key reason for Roenigk's confidence that Open Compute hardware will spread beyond Facebook and Rackspace. Open Compute hardware is designed to be have low purchase and running costs relative to alternate hardware. Designs are targeted at specific computing needs (the hyperscale computing needs of Facebook, for example), removing all extraneous components and materials from servers and their associated infrastructure.
As a measure of how this focus can translate into lower running costs, Facebook says its OCP-stocked Prineville datacentre has a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.09, which is better than the US Environmental Protection Agency's best-practice rating of 1.5.
The pain and cost for a company of coming up with a design for a rack or motherboard to suit their specific computing needs can also shared between the pool of engineers working on the Open Compute project.
"There's the ability to collaborate with engineers all over the world," says Roenigk. "Let's say a company had 40 people working on energy efficiencies and sustainability initiatives, at Open Compute we've got a wide membership and I would certainly hope they'd be able to innovate faster."
"It's changing my economics in such a big way, my speed to market is cut in half. There's huge competitive reasons why this is really, really important for us," says Roenigk.
At the last Open Compute Summit in Santa Clara, new OCP designs included specifications for motherboards, chipsets, cabling and common sockets and connectors.
And as the pool of OCP specifications for data centre equipment grows, Roenigk notes that more organisations will be able to find a design for a server, storage or other data center equipment that suits their needs.
"If I was starting a service provider today I would become a member of Open Compute and I would go and get Rackspace's design. I just get their design and I know exactly the full bill of materials, who built it and the pricing of it," he says.
On top of the custom design benefits are the economies of scale: by piggy-backing on orders for Open Compute hardware by a major companies like Facebook and Rackspace, a smaller player can benefit from similar low costs to those that large companies are able to negotiate with component suppliers and server manufacturers.
"Now I'm a small guy, but I get to pay the same price as the big guys. For those guys it's no-brainer. They're going to do it to increase their chances of survival," says Roenigk, adding that even the biggest companies can further drive down equipment costs by pooling their buying power.
Support for Open Compute hardware differs from the support contracts offered by OEM server vendors. Organisations using OCP hardware "don't even have to have engineers on staff technically, as they could just utilise the engineers in the community," says Roenigk, although he acknowledges that the timeframe for support delivery is less certain: "The challenge is the service level. If an organisation had an issue, how quickly could somebody respond to it who wasn't a direct employee?"
Using OCP hardware currently requires organisation to up their internal investment in support; Rackspace, for example, has taken on an additional nine staff to manage Open Compute hardware. That cost is offset, Roenigk claims, by savings on hardware and running costs.
"Just the hardware savings alone the minimum is 10 per cent, and depending on how well you integrate and virtualise it it could be 40 per cent,” he says. "When you consider the additional cost of the licensing fees and integration activities, I can bring in an additional engineer or three and still put savings in my pocket."
Going down the OCP route can also means taking additional responsibility for the data centre supply chain — for sourcing components, finding server manufacturers and carrying out systems integration to ensure all these parts work together.
"When it comes to server support and supply chain management there are a lot of companies that don't even want to hire one or two people to oversee the process. That's the spot where the Dells and HPs are going to play," says Roenigk.
"But what we're finding is the OCP providers also provide very similar levels of supply chain management," he adds.
The modular data center
The DIY design ethos of Open Compute reflects a wider shift in the data center market, of big web companies looking for alternatives to server designs from OEMs like Dell and HP, which traditionally designed and sourced server hardware. For years firms like Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google and Facebook have been drafting their own servers and associated infrastructure, allowing for custom setups to maximise cooling, server density or whatever else suited their needs.
While AWS and Google still jealously guard the details of their data center designs, viewing the efficiency and effectiveness they afford them as a source of competitive advantage, Facebook struck on the idea that it could become more efficient by crowdsourcing their ideas. The social network decided to share the problem of designing, sourcing, purchasing and integrating data center hardware, and launched the Open Compute Project Foundation in October 2011.
A central idea behind the project is to break components of the data center, rack and server into modular parts that can be swapped out as computing needs change. The goal is to move away from the wastage normally associated with the server upgrade cycle. Traditionally an organisation that only wanted to swap chip architectures inside it servers would find itself also having to upgrade the entire server — as the new chip would need a new motherboard that could, in turn, require new memory and network controllers.
This need to upgrade en masse has restricted organisations' ability to upgrade as and when they want. An organisation that wanted to upgrade their CPU on an annual basis, for example, might only do so every three years because of the associated cost of also upgrading the motherboard and other components, and the need to wait for the right memory, network cards and associated hardware to become available.
This interoperability between different server boards and components requires standardisation around new motherboards and backplane interconnects. At the project's Santa Clara summit earlier this year, the Group Hug slot architecture was revealed, whose design would allow server motherboards to accept ARM SoC, AMD or Intel chips.
To help link these disaggregated components together at an acceptable speed, Intel is working on silicon photonic interconnects and cable designs. These are intended to enable 100Gbps interconnects that have 'such low latency' that components that previously needed to be bound to the same motherboard can be spread out within a rack.
The most likely earlier adopters of OCP equipment are major web companies like Facebook or major hosting providers like Rackspace, looking for ways to drive down the build, running and refresh costs of their large IT infrastructures. Rackspace, for example, will serve 70-75,000 customers per data center, with each customer running between one and 25 applications. Alongside Rackspace some of the world's largest ISPs and cloud service providers, such as Chinese firm Tencent and cloud CRM specialist Salesforce.com, are members of the project.
The financial sector, another prime market for OCP hardware, is well represented among project members, with Goldman Sachs being one of the five board members of the OCP Foundation. Facebook's Frank Frankovsky, VP of hardware design and supply chain operations at Facebook and chairman of the Open Compute Project, says financial services companies' interest in the project can be explained by the fact they "are IT companies more than they actually know", thanks to their large-scale compute environments.
Other traditional enterprise sectors may be slower to adopt OCP, says Roenigk, citing the tendency of CIOs to play it safe in their infrastructure investments, although that reluctance may be lessened by financial constraints.
"Adoption by the enterprise is always really slow. CIOs always want to do something that's really safe and secure. Typically their roadmap is a year out as they know what their budget is going to be," says Roenigk.
"But more and more we're seeing CEOs and CFOs instructing CIOs they need to reduce the cost of compute."
As cloud service use by SMEs and enterprise picks up, it's also likely to fuel Open Compute adoption, as servers move from OEM-friendly big business to cloud service providers more open to the OCP's design-your-own ethos.
However, adoption of cloud services by larger businesses has been relatively modest to date, with enterprise favouring private cloud and only using public cloud to provide additional capacity to cope with spikes in demand, according to Roenigk.
Two major holdouts for the project are Amazon and Google, and there's doubt whether they will be willing to sacrifice the operating advantage that their closed approach to datacentre design gives them.
"I think the Googles of the world will stay proprietary for another year or two. They're on the sidelines watching what Open Compute will do," says Roenigk. "They have intellectual property in the design of that infrastructure and they already have great economies, so they are already getting a great price."
Open Compute, not for everyone...at least for a while
Not every organisation relies heavily enough on IT infrastructure, or has such specific computing needs, that it would realise significant benefits from the disruption of swapping OEM servers and generic datacentre infrastructure for OCP-designed kit.
Laurent Lachal, a senior analyst leading Ovum's cloud computing research, believes that adoption will slower than Roenigk expects, suggesting the appeal of Open Compute equipment will be limited to companies with IT estates of the size and scale OCP's foundation board members for some time.
"Because of the very nature of its target audience, it's limited. The organisation that launched it is Facebook, a company which needs a very, very large data center estate, therefore the effort to create their own datacentre infrastructure is well worth the cost reduction this results in. All these large companies have the business case to get involved," he says.
Conversely many smaller businesses and enterprises haven't entertained the idea of swapping OEM servers for open-source alternatives, Lachal claims.
"A survey was carried out last August where businesses were asked about Open Compute and the majority either didn't know or weren't interested. It's a good reflection that the market at large is not really relevant to them, on top of the fact these organisations don't quite understand what it's all about."
Beyond the spread of OCP-compliant hardware, Lachal expects the project's emphasis on modular design will also influence the design of mainstream data center equipment.
In the long run Lachal believes the Open Compute Project will become more widely recognised as a standards body for open-source hardware and Open Compute hardware will eventually find its way into wider enterprise and smaller businesses.
"There will be a trickle down of Open Compute in the long run. It will take about five years to gain significant adoption among the major backers and 10 years to trickle down to other companies."


text:
Research reveals changing face of meat industry
New appointments at the top of the UK's largest 1002 meat companies is set to prompt a radical change in their behaviour and put even greater pressure on those with ageing boardrooms, according to research by industry analysts Plimsoll Publishing.
The research reveals that there have been 699 new appointments at director level in the last 18 months in an industry with 2201 directors in total.
It also states that the average director's salary in the meat industry was £61,706 last year compared to the UK director's average salary of £68,500.
According to Plimsoll, new blood represents a transformation of the industry, with new ideas, renewed focus and different ways of working.
Senior analyst, David Pattison, said: "There has never been a more important time to take note not just of the companies you are doing business with, but of the decision makers behind those companies.
"We all know that companies do not do business with companies - people do business with people.
"But the people are changing, and firms will be caught out and lose business as a result, simply because they took a customer, competitor or supplier for granted on the basis of an older management style."
Plimsoll's analysis has investigated each company's financial performance and offers views on the challenges the new directors face, as well as the strategies they are deploying to stamp their mark on the industry.
The research finds that for 202 of them the challenge is to keep the company afloat, while for 497 others it is to deliver industry-leading performance. In both cases, a change in the way of doing things looks inevitable.
Pattison said: "The reasons for the new appointments are varied. Some have been taken on with the direct objective of finding a buyer for the company, while others look as if they have been appointed to see through a management buy-out.
"Whatever the reason, this wave of new blood is simply the start. Almost a quarter of directors are over the age of 60, and we will see yet more evolution in the not too distant future."
Plimsoll research found that the typical time in office in the meat industry is now more than four years, compared to the UK average of just over seven years.
27 October, 2016, 8:30
Next steps for tackling obesity: prevention, sugar consumption a
01 - 03 November, 2016
China Foodtech 2017
07 November, 2016
Butcher’s Shop of the Year
01 December, 2016, 8:30 - 13:30
Policy priorities for the UK food, drink and farming industry


text:
US garment imports settle on strategic suppliers
The world's economic problems are still very much with us, but it now appears - from the latest US figures - that garment customers may have settled down to a new but stable order of strategic suppliers.
The world's economic problems are still very much with us, but it now appears - looking at the latest US figures - that garment customers may have settled down to a new but stable order of strategic suppliers. David Birnbaum looks at the data.
Emerging Asian countries hold the key to the future of the global apparel sourcing industry, according to a new research report from just-style.
Syria, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan may become increasingly important apparel sourcing countries in coming years once ongoing issues around political and human rights have been resolved.
While China's position as the world's leading clothing manufacturing country remains unassailable, the increasing cost of doing business there means the rapid growth of its apparel industry may be on the wane. New research highlights Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Romania, Madagascar, Tunisia and Morocco as attractive sourcing alternatives.
Textile and apparel imports into the US were up again in April, rising 2.9% to 4.35bn square metre equivalents (SME) on top of a 1.7% increase in March.
- Yarn-forward rules weigh on Vietnam TPP potential
- How M&S plans to revamp its clothing business
- The difference between compliance and safety?
- Footwear to see "significant" gains from TPP
- Is China really going through a slump?
- Gap accused of rights violations in supply chain
- US Q1 in brief - Sears, Abercrombie & Fitch
- M&S to see "departure" of sourcing chiefs?
- Gap to close 75 stores amid "disastrous" Q1
- Adidas Speedfactory eyes large-scale production


text:
Fitch has “turned the corner” with a move back into the black, according to Martin Beck, chairman and chief executive of the publicly quoted group.
“There is no looking back now,” says Beck of the previously beleaguered group, predicting a growth of around 30 staff in the US and UK offices this year. “We’re heading in the right direction.”
Beck was commenting on Fitch’s financial results announced last week. The group reported a small pre-tax profit of Ãº30 000 for the year to end-December 1994 on turnover of Ãº12.46m. This compares with a pre-tax loss of Ãº3.18m in 1993 on turnover of Ãº12.02m.
He maintains the UK business held the group back in the first half of 1994, but in the second half it returned to profit, largely through a reduction in operating costs. One of the biggest savings involved the disposal last October of the group’s King’s Cross headquarters in London and a move to smaller central London premises for the 75 UK staff. The sale of the King’s Cross building reduced the UK debt by Ãº3.45m, and Beck says the move has already saved the group some Ãº450 000 in costs.
According to Beck, Fitch’s US business continued to thrive, reporting a 10 per cent increase in turnover to Ãº9.02m and operating profits up 31 per cent to Ãº990 000 before exceptional costs and interest. There have been 27 new staff there during the year, bringing the total to 225, and US work is growing, particularly in the retail sector for clients such as Blockbuster.
Beck points to business wins in the first two months of 1995. UK orders are “up 36 per cent on last year”, he says, and the Paris office is faring well with clients such as supermarket chain Prix Unique. Retail, packaging, branding and interface design are sectors he highlights as growth areas.


text:
What began as a pandemic-forced measure is the new standard.
In an effort to limit in-store customers, retailers such as Target, Walmart, and Macy’s were forced to close their doors last to eager Black Friday shoppers – instead, offering the special deals for a longer amount of time, beginning in some cases in October. While Walmart and Macy’s will remain closed for their second year, Target is planning on remaining closed on the family holiday forever.
“What started as a temporary measure driven by the pandemic is now our new standard — one that recognizes our ability to deliver on our guests’ holiday wishes both within and well beyond store hours,” Target CEO Brian Cornell said to employees.
The move to close its stores on Thanksgiving Day in perpetuity, appears to have not only have had a positive impact on its employees, but for customers as well; making such deals for customers available for a longer period of time, rather than an all-out shopping weekend, resulted in an increase of 8.2% in sales in November and December of 2020 than the previous year, according to The National Retail Federation. The Federation also surmises that this year’s sales will escalate to as high as 10.5%.
Target, as well as other similar retailers, began opening their doors on Thanksgiving Day 10 years ago in an effort to launch their Black Friday sales in the wake of Amazon and other online companies.
This move “seemed to merely cannibalize Black Friday sales,” according to NPR. “And big retailers suffered some blowback from critics who said thousands of people were forced to work, rather than being with family during the holiday.”


text:
In a series of tweets Monday, actress Amanda Seales prompted the latest round of debates on Twitter about spending money on clothes -- like Jordan’s -- or travel and experiences, as in the case of buying a passport.
>> Read more trending news
Essence reported that Seales posted the tweets while flying to Paris.
Seales’ comments on the matter, which is routinely debated on Twitter, were considered shallow, even classist, by some.
According to tweets from sociologist Eve Ewing, Seales’ tweets ignored the history and impact of generational wealth in black communities.
"Jordans are not driving the wealth gap and passports ain't gon fix it," Ewing tweeted, linking to a Washington Post article. The Post story, from Sept. 28, cites data from the Federal Reserve.
According to reserve data, white families have nearly 10 times the net worth of black families and the wealth gap between the two continues to grow.
Ewing’s argument is that spending money on travel and passports instead of clothes and shoes will not eliminate the generational wealth gap.
Others, however, said that Seales was merely saying if a person can spend money on clothes, they can spend the same amount on travel and it’s a matter of priorities.
Seales says it’s about balance.
"Frivolity has its place but not in place of practicality. Lesson I hv (sic) learned. Feel free 2 take it or pass," she tweeted.


text:
Last week, I sat around a table with fellow journalists as Greg Sullivan, Microsoft's head of Mixed Reality, detailed the company's vision for the future of virtual collaboration. Nobody was wearing masks or standing apart. We weren't worried about getting sick. Instead, we were all wearing HoloLens 2 headsets and sitting in different parts of the world. The holographic table was right beside my actual desk, and my media pals were floating around my office as we chatted with our cartoonish avatars. For a second, it felt like mingling in real life during the Before Times.
Gallery: Microsoft Mesh | 7 Photos
Gallery: Microsoft Mesh | 7 Photos
We were experiencing one of the first apps powered by Microsoft Mesh, the company's ambitious new attempt at unifying holographic virtual collaboration across multiple devices, be they VR headsets, AR (like HoloLens), laptops or smartphones. Powered by Microsoft's Azure cloud, Mesh isn't just an app, it's a platform that other developers can use to bring remote collaboration to their own software. If remote work is here to stay — and by most accounts, it is — Microsoft wants to be the company taking us beyond Zoom video chats, and towards holographic experiences that everyone can join.
"Not only are we going to be able to share holograms, but we'll be able to do so in a way that gives us agency and presence," Sullivan said during our virtual meeting. "We can create these experiences, where even though we're physically separated, it feels like we're in the same room, sharing in an experience and collaborating on a project."
While we've seen a solid stab at virtual collaboration from Spatial, Microsoft is attempting something even more complex. Sullivan likens Mesh to the launch of Xbox Live in 2002, a service that dramatically simplified online multiplayer gaming for consoles. It made it easier for developers to connect their games to the internet, and led to a boom in online multiplayer titles for the Xbox and Xbox 360. That gave Microsoft a strong leg up on Sony and Nintendo, both of which took years to catch up.
Microsoft is using today's Ignite conference keynote to show off the capabilities of Mesh. Alex Kipman, the company's Technical Fellow behind the HoloLens and Kinect, will hit the stage as a real-time hologram (something Microsoft calls "holoportation"). Think of it a bit like the holographic messages we've seen in Star Wars and other science fiction stories. It's not photo realistic, but if you're wearing a VR headset, it's almost as if he's in the room with you. On a standard monitor or phone screen, it may just come off as a hokey special effect. But it's not hard to imagine eventually slipping on an AR headset like the HoloLens 2 and watching a hologram presentation right in your living room, as if you were sitting in the front row during a show.
My Microsoft Mesh demo, to be clear, was nowhere near as impressive. Our avatars were simplistic, with detached arms and limited facial movement. It was like being surrounded by a bunch of Nintendo Miis. But there was still a decent sense of immersion: I could tell exactly where everyone was even when I had my eyes closed, thanks to realistic audio processing. And we were able to collaborate with 3D models, passing them around the table and resizing them to our heart's content.
While we were looking at fairly basic 3D figures, Sullivan pointed out that Mesh can also stream high-quality models from the cloud (it's powered by Azure, after all). That would allow designers and engineers to collaborate with the same assets they're using on their workstations from anywhere in the world. That's what film director and producer James Cameron is aiming to do with his upcoming series, OceanXplorers. The non-profit behind that show, OceanX, plans to create a Mesh-enabled "holographic laboratory" on its advanced ship, allowing scientists on-board and remotely to collaborate around 3D models.
“The idea is to take all this amazing scientific data we’re collecting and bring it into a holographic setting and use it as a way to guide scientific missions in real time,” Vincent Pieribone, vice chairman of OceanX, said in a statement. It would let researchers huddle around data and chat as they would in real life, no matter how far apart they actually are.


text:
The Tata Nano F-Tronic has been caught testing and is due for a launch soon. The car has updated interiors and will be the cheapest AMT car in India.
Tata Motors is considering the launch of the second generation Nano with a bigger engine, broader appeal and a more upmarket image. The car will also have a higher price tag with more features on board. They are trying to change its current image from the most cheapest car and re-position it by offering unique features to help it stand out among its rivals. However, it seems that Tata is already testing out an updated Nano with quite a few feature additions. Judging from a couple of spy shots taken by a Team-BHP reader, the AMT equipped Nano isn’t far from launch.
The Tata Nano seen in the pictures is the Twist variant, which is the most expensive Nano model available in the market currently. From the F-tronic and XTA badging, we reckon the test car to be carrying the automated manual transmission (AMT), a 4-speed gearbox with a mechatronic unit. The AMT system is sourced from Magnetic Marelli, which also supplies Maruti Suzuki with AMT systems. The model will introduced as the top-most variant of the Nano in the future.
The test car seems to be powered by the same twin-cylinder 624cc engine that puts out 37 BHP of power and 51 Nm of torque in the current model, but the reader found the test car to have much better NVH levels as compared to the very loud and auto-rickshaw like sounding Nano engine. The Nano also appears to have better interiors and the sporty three-spoke steering wheel which is found on the Zest. It was also running on bigger 13-inch wheels while the current car gets 12-inch wheels. With this variant, Tata is definitely aiming to target the younger generation and maybe even women specifically, as two young girls were in the car (market research being done here).
Ratan Tata has seriously considered changing the style quotient of the current generation Tata Nano and the company seems to be working in the right direction to make that happen. Tata will be looking to export the Nano in the coming years to Indonesia and also a few African nations. While Tata works on the next generation Nano, the current gen model will be sold alongside the next generation Nano (codenamed Pelican) when its launched in the market later this year. The Nano with AMT should be the next launch from Tata Motors.
Source – Team-BHP.com


text:
Chrysler Group LLC chief executive Sergio Marchionne received no salary or stock awards from Chrysler in 2011, according to the annual report filed by the company.
This is the second straight year that he has declined to have any salary or bonus. This is interesting considering the fact that Chrysler posted a profit of $183 million in 2011 after a $652 million loss in 2010.
At the same time, Sergio Marchionne will be compensated for being the Chief Executive of Fiat SpA, the Italian automaker. He received a fee of 3.5 million euros ($4.5 million) in 2010 from Fiat, which owns 58.5 percent of Chrysler. His pay package from Fiat is not yet disclosed.
Meanwhile, it has compensated its five other top senior executives. Richard Palmer, who is the senior vice president and CFO, has received $1.18 million in salary, stock and stock options.
Marchionne, who has functioned as CEO of Chrysler from the time from bankruptcy in June 2009, has led the firm from the front in making sure that it has been able to repay more than $7 billion of government loans. Going by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing, Chrysler improved its value to $7.5 billion at the end of 2011.
Chrysler's sales were up 40 percent in February this year.


text:
The third gym in the Oude Ebbingestraat in Groningen will soon open its doors. The rise of the gym is unstoppable.
The newcomer is located in the building where delivery service Gorillas was until recently and is located next to the Train More and Push & Pull gyms. The three gyms occupy six former shop buildings.
There are a lot of gyms in and around the city center: there is also a Train More in the former post office on Munnekeholm, Basic-Fit is located on the Vismarkt and Westerhaven, Sportief90 on the Eendrachtskade and right opposite ProFit Gym opened about a year and a half ago. . It is just a small selection from the enormous range. For example, Basic-Fit still has three gyms in Groningen and more and more personal trainers are starting their own gym.
‘4 million Dutch people go to the gym every week’
And there is no end to it anytime soon. “We are working on even more gyms that want to establish themselves in and around the city center,” says business broker Igor Feenstra, who has heard that in this case supply creates demand. He remembers the Plaza Sportiva gym, which opened its doors at the Euroborg in 2006. “A gym of 5,000 square meters: is not possible, does not exist, the city cannot handle that, everyone thought. Look how many gyms have been added since then. And I don’t see them leaving either.”
Real estate advisor Wiebe Jongsma of OC Bedrijfsmakelaars also sees more and more gyms popping up. “It is a trend, just like the many barbershops and catering establishments. The gym is very much alive, young and old are busy with healthy eating and living. And what is striking is that the personal trainer falls under the heading of social facilities: it is difficult to fit into an industrial estate, but it is possible in the city center. Retail is having a hard time and the gym appears to be a welcome alternative.”
And quite a few people go there. “The number of fitness practitioners is enormous. 4 million Dutch people go to fitness every week,” says sports researcher Paul Hover of the Mulier Institute. “It has been growing since the 80s or 90s and there is no saturation yet. It is a sport that is accessible all day long, you can go alone or in a group, it is about fitness and strength. It is meaningful for public health.”
The personal trainer is also on the rise, says Hover. Personal trainer Joeri Zwart can talk about that. He opened his gym in the Vechtstraat a year ago, where he and a team of 10 colleagues train 350 people. There is still growth, which is why he is moving to a larger building where he can grow to 550 athletes.
‘The Instagram generation pays more attention to a fit body’
He explains the growth in the number of gyms as follows: “Health is hip and social media shows people who look fantastic. Increased prosperity makes it easier for people to turn to a personal trainer. That’s no longer something you have to live in Los Angeles for.”
According to Hover, more young people have been going to the gym in recent years. “The Instagram generation pays more attention to health and working on a fit body.”
Nys (19 and International Business student) and his roommate Philine (19 and Medicine student) enter Train More in the Oude Ebbingestraat. He goes at least twice a week, she goes four or five times. “I want to stay fit and look fit,” says Philine. “The nice thing about the gym is that I can go where I have time.”
‘But what do you want in a city with 60,000 students?’
Neighbor Harry Meijer from Handyman parts store hears that a third gym is coming to his street. “Then it will be a complete mess in terms of cycling,” he says. “I think three gyms are a lot, but what do you want in a city with 60,000 students?”
Eric Bos of the Groningen City Club also calls it a dilemma that the gym takes the place of shops and catering. “But yes, it is not forbidden and it is better than Gorillas. I think any building that is filled with something other than retail or catering is a shame, because visitors to the city do not come there for a gym. It’s not inspiring.”


text:
Hi-Fi Rush is Coming to Nintendo Switch, It’s Claimed
Rumors and claims have begun to surface that the Xbox-exclusive, Hi-Fi Rush, will be coming to the Nintendo Switch later this year.
NateTheHate, who has a strong track record when it comes to insider information first kicked off the rumors by announcing on his podcast that a “high critical acclaim” Xbox 1st party title will come to a competitor in 2024.
As expected, subsequent rumors and predictions soon surfaced online. One notable claim comes from ResetEra user lolilolailo, who has suggested that the game is Hi-Fi Rush coming to the Nintendo Switch.
On the forum, lolilolailo replied to another saying “And you’ll win”, after the user predicted that Hi-Fi Rush would be coming to the Nintendo Switch.
While we would caution to take the rumor with a grain of salt, it has been pointed out that the user has been accurate in the past with Xbox-related leaks. Lolilolailo previously reported on information relating to the Persona series and ATLUS, which both came to fruition.
Hi-Fi Rush was one of the biggest highlights and surprises in 2023 after the game was announced and shadowdropped during an Xbox developer direct. New leaked achievements suggest that the game will also have some form of DLC in the near future.
Will you be picking up Hi-Fi Rush on the Nintendo Switch if the rumor comes to fruition? Let us know in the comments section below!


text:
Like the iPhone X, the new iPad is expected to include a faster processor and a custom Apple graphics processing unit, one of the people said.
Apple is working on a redesigned iPad that would remove the device's home button in favor of the new Face ID system introduced on the iPhone X. Removing that button, though, can drastically reduce the size of the iPad, even while maintaining the same 10.5-inch screen size.
On the heels of a new report today about what we're likely to see from Apple's 2018 iPad Pro release, Benjamin Geskin has shared a set of new renders imagining what a mostly bezel-less iPad Pro with Face ID might look like.
Apple is unlikely to use OLED for the 2018 iPad lineup and will stick with LCD, according to the report.
The Makers of Pokémon Go Are Working on a Harry Potter Game
Bradford Hornsby is an editor, music writer, web producer, and pop culture blogger for CBS stations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Intriguingly, the games might show these familiar characters "at different points in their lives" from the Harry Potter series.
The iPad business used to be a huge profit driver for Apple, but revenue has fallen as overall tablet sales have declined in the past few years.
Apple allegedly still sees the iPad as the future of mainstream computing and continues investment in the series. It is much more hard to produce large quantities of OLED panels than it is to manufacture LCDs. Samsung Electronics Co., which supplies OLED panels for iPhones, would be the only display maker with the capacity to produce the new screens for iPads in 2018, but technical and financial constraints still make that unlikely, according to a person with knowledge of Samsung's display operations. Bloomberg says the redesigned iPad could make its consumer debut as early as next year.
Lack of the home button on the iPhone X hasn't been a big deal for many users, but getting rid of the home button on the iPad could lead to some UX problems - especially with all the multitasking gestures on iOS 11 that already make the iPad confusing to use in some cases. Early reception has been positive for the feature, which also allows for payment authentication and sending Animojis, an animated emoji based on a user's facial movements and speech.


text:
Cloud Summit Review: Fast And Fluid Wins the Race
You heard it a lot at the 2018 Cloud Summit, not only from me, but also from Nimesh Davé, our EVP, and again from SVP Renée Bergeron: Business success depends on being fast and fluid.
As I told attendees at Cloud Summit, today’s consumers are in the driver’s seat, and they’re demanding choices in how, where and when they consume information. The companies that can deliver—and deliver fast—are the ones that will succeed.
Remember just a few years ago when you bought CDs, rented DVDs in video stores and had to hail a taxi from the sidewalk? You may have even visited a travel agency to book your vacation. Fast forward to today. We’ve got Spotify, Netflix, Uber and Expedia. All the products and services we used to seek out are instantly available at our fingertips, thanks to the cloud.
The brands I mentioned, along with hundreds of others, have one common denominator: a platform. They’ve spent billions building a platform to deliver their services to customers, but this can be a formidable challenge.
The good news is we’ve already done it for you.
As I described in my last blog, Ingram Micro Cloud already has created a hyperscale platform, allowing you to aggregate, deliver and monetize anything from SaaS and PaaS to IaaS—literally XaaS. We spent years merging our platform assets and building a team of relentless, passionate people to help you grow and scale your cloud business.
But we haven’t stopped there. We’ve created something revolutionary: Watch the CloudBlue video.
Formally announced at Cloud Summit, CloudBlue is the newest Ingram Micro business unit with a groundbreaking cloud commerce and Xaas platform. It’s a brand. It’s a platform. And it’s more than that. CloudBlue includes an ecosystem that integrates hundreds of ISVs and powers one-third of the world’s leading telcos. It’s the power behind our Ingram Micro Cloud Marketplace. And it’s designed for small business, big business—and your business. This is the digital transformation you’ve been waiting for.
Thanks to an innovative partnership with Microsoft, CloudBlue will operate on the trusted Microsoft Azure cloud platform. In addition, Microsoft will co-sell CloudBlue to new service providers joining Microsoft’s CSP program. Our customers will be able to scale faster and deliver the technologies their customers need, creating what Microsoft’s Gavriella Schuster calls “a game-changing moment.”
Ingram Micro Cloud is continually investing resources to not only keep our own business fast and fluid, but also to help our partners do the same while providing today’s consumers with the infinite, instant gratification to which they’re becoming accustomed.
As I said, fast and fluid companies will win in the digital revolution.
We hope you’ll take the information, tools and relationships you acquired at the recent Cloud Summit to build your own fast and fluid cloud business.
Mark your calendar for Ingram Micro Cloud Summit 2019, scheduled for March 11 – 13 in San Diego, CA. Sign up now to get updates, watch the 2018 highlights video and access keynote presentations at ingrammicrocloudsummit.com.


text:
Blame this culinary craze on Canada!
After testing its Pumpkin Spice Mac & Cheese north of the border, Kraft is bringing the autumn-themed concoction to the US — in limited quantities, according to Delish.
“After seeing the huge response Pumpkin Spice Mac & Cheese received north of the border, and even hearing some heated debates about it down here, we had to bring it to the U.S. for Americans to try,” said brand manager for Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Martina Davis. “Who knows? Maybe it could become a new North American fall favorite.”
Kraft added hints of nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon and ginger to its traditional cheese powder
Now through Tuesday, Kraft is offering people in the U.S the chance to win 1,000 limited edition Pumpkin Spice Kraft Mac & Cheese products by using hashtags #PumpkinSpiceKMC #Sweepstakes, as well as tagging @KraftMacNCheese on Twitter.


text:
Donald Seibert has seen the inside workings of not only churches but high-pressure corporations. As chairman and chief executive officer at J. C. Penney, he gained a reputation as an effective organizer and peacemaker. And in peace, the company prospered.
In 1981, a year when most retailers were taking their lumps, Penney's earnings rose 44 percent on a mere 4.5 percent increase in sales. What was the secret? Business Week pointed to a new management style "keyed to group decision making … consensus management."
Seibert, architect of that new atmosphere, is now retired, but his philosophy remains unchanged: develop a team that can continue without a hitch when key individuals leave.
Here are his reflections from a lifetime of service within the complex organizations of church and business.
What leadership tensions are common to both business and the local church?
In business, tensions arise when the chief executive's objectives somehow differ from those of long-standing workers in the ...1


text:
KINBURN – Thirty-five years ago John Herrick got in to the feed and seed business, extending the legacy of Kinburn Farm Supplies’ 93-year run in business.
“I’ve enjoyed it, that’s for sure,” Herrick told West Carleton Online yesterday (Nov. 19) from his cluttered office tucked behind the counter of the store. “As we know, there are fewer and fewer farmers, but the farms are getting bigger and bigger. So, the market changes and you just have to keep up with the market.”
In 1983 there was no such thing as wood pellets. People didn’t use steel to roof their homes – two things Herrick says are now important contributors to his business.
Herrick grew up on a small farm on Upper Dwyer Hill Road and went to Kemptville College.
“I was always interested in agriculture,” he said.
When he bought Kinburn Farm Supplies in 1983 it was only his second job out of college. Now Kinburn Farm Supplies is a family business.
“When I started the business, I was single,” Herrick said. “I married my wife in 1986 (he confirms over a phone call) she started working here and she’s probably been here at least 30 years and has been a big part of my success.”
Now his son Michael works at the store and Michael’s wife Melissa as well. Herrick has two other children, Joshua and Terrilyn, who don’t work at the store.
“He bought the house next door so the entire property is under one ownership again,” Herrick said. “Hopefully Michael will take over when I retire.”
History is important to Herrick. Some of the clutter that makes up his office is memorabilia of milestones Kinburn Farm Supplies has reached. He has several framed photos of the business as it has changed over the years. He even has a photo of the original owner who built the business. Leo Colton and his staff pose around a supply truck in a picture that dates back to the 1930s.
In his vault, Herrick has a hand-written note from former owner Everett Armstrong who had documented the owners and renters of the long-standing business.
“A really nice gentleman,” Herrick said of Armstrong. “He hand-wrote the history for me just off the top of his head. I can’t remember what I did last week.”
The note was written in 1984.
The note says Leo Colton built the mill in 1925 and then a house in 1935. Richard Dellahunt bought the business in 1956 and then Armstrong in 1962. Berry Feeds leased the store in 1973. Berry Feeds re-leased the business to Bill Hooper who did not want to purchase it. Finally, Armstrong was able to sell the business to former West Carleton Mayor Dwight Eastman in May, 1983. Five months after that, Herrick bought the business and is now the longest-serving owner.
He says it’s the people that have made that time so enjoyable.
“When I’m dealing with customers, they say they remember coming in here as a kid,” Herrick said. “Now they’re coming in with their kids. I know of some families that we have served three generations. There’s a lot of business out here and we are certainly a different store and I think people find that neat. We specialize in feed and seed and fertilizer and we always have.”
Kinburn Farm Supplies Inc. is hosting its anniversary sale right now, click here for more information on the store and the anniversary sale.


text:
Munich – The gas and oil bill for Bavaria’s citizens and companies has more than doubled this year.
 In the first half of the year, natural gas and oil worth 10.9 billion euros were imported, an increase of 106 percent on a year-on-year basis. This was announced on Friday by the State Statistics Office in Fürth.
The increase in prices for many products causes Bavaria’s foreign trade deficit to increase. The total value of imports rose by 18 percent to 121.5 billion euros in the first half of the year. The value of exports, on the other hand, increased by only 9 percent to just under 102 billion euros.
“Responsible for the increases in exports and imports are solely the increased prices,” says Bertram Brossardt, general manager of the Association of Bavarian Business. “The persistently high energy costs are a serious burden for the Bavarian export economy.”
Since 2019, Bavaria has changed from an exporting to an importing country. In 2021, Bavaria’s companies sold cars, machines and other goods worth 190 billion euros abroad, but imports were worth 212 billion euros.


text:
There is little question that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated digital transformation, a trend that was already on the rise. And, today businesses can no longer afford to ignore it. As organizations continue to face multiple challenges related to transporting goods, supply chain digitization is more critical than ever before.
Carriers, managers, and customers will always demand a better experience
To meet these growing and ever-changing demands to deliver the best experience, collaboration must be an important consideration. Supply chain collaboration is vital to generate innovative strategies in today’s changing world. Especially as carriers, managers, and customers are constantly striving for tools to enable informed decision-making.
MercuryGate recently partnered with LISTECH, part of Grupo Lis, to offer advice, consulting, and support in supply chain management technologies for companies of all sizes across a variety of industries. This collaboration is key in building customer relationships, and helping to implement the efficiencies and processes for delivering strategic transportation networks in Latin America.
Supply chain digitization is here to stay, and the companies that embrace it will more effectively position themselves for growth and competitive differentiation.


text:
A recent analysis by Lloyds Banking Group has shed light on this worrying phenomenon. It reveals an alarming increase in fraudulent activities linked to crypto investments.
Surge in Crypto Scam Reports: A 2023 Perspective
The data from Lloyds Banking Group paints a concerning picture. Compared to 2022, there’s been a 23% rise in reported cryptocurrency investment scams. This spike not only signifies a growing interest in digital currencies but also marks an increase in fraudsters exploiting this interest. What’s more alarming is the average loss incurred by victims, which stands at a staggering £10,741, surpassing losses in other consumer fraud categories.
One of the most significant revelations from the analysis is the role of social media in these scams. 66% of all investment scams originate from platforms like Instagram and Facebook. The methods are sophisticated and varied, including fake advertisements, counterfeit celebrity endorsements, and targeted direct messaging. These tactics indicate greater vigilance among social media users, especially those exploring investment opportunities.
Demographics of the Victims: Young and Vulnerable
The typical victim of these scams falls within the age bracket of 25 to 34 years, representing a quarter of all cases. This demographic is particularly susceptible, possibly due to their active social media presence and interest in emerging investment trends like cryptocurrencies. This vulnerability underscores the importance of targeted financial education and awareness campaigns for younger investors.
The journey from being targeted to realizing the scam is intriguing and disheartening. Victims often make an average of three transactions before recognizing the fraud, typically taking about 100 days from the initial transaction to report the incident. By this time, the funds are usually irretrievable, posing a significant challenge for banks to recover the lost amounts.
Revolut: A Common Link in Scam Transactions
Interestingly, Revolut, a popular digital banking platform, has emerged as a common conduit for these fraudulent transactions among Lloyds Bank customers. Once deposited into Revolut accounts, the funds are swiftly transferred elsewhere, complicating the traceability and recovery process.
In certain scenarios, victims unwittingly find themselves with legitimate investment accounts on platforms like Coinbase or Binance. These accounts, either self-created or opened by fraudsters, undergo minimal checks, making them easy targets for exploitation. Once the funds are deposited, victims are often deceived into relinquishing control of their accounts or digital wallets, leading to irreversible financial losses.
Liz Ziegler, Lloyds Bank’s Fraud Prevention Director, emphasizes the high-risk nature of crypto investments and the lack of regulation in this sector. She calls for increased vigilance and responsibility from social media platforms to prevent these scams and assist in compensating victims. Ziegler’s statement highlights the urgent need for tech companies to safeguard their users against such fraudulent activities proactively.
For paid/sponsored articles, FintechMode neither endorses nor takes responsibility for the accuracy, timeliness, quality, and content of said articles. The statements, views and opinions expressed in paid/sponsored articles are solely those of the content provider and readers are reminded that Cryptocurrency products are unregulated in most locations and can be highly risky. Do your own research and consult relevant financial experts before making any investment decisions. FintechMode will not be held accountable, either directly or indirectly, for any harm or loss that may stem from or be linked to the usage or reliance on any information, goods, or services mentioned on this page. If you have any concerns, please email [email protected] or refer to our Terms & Conditions


text:
Businesses and individuals who are considering setting up a standard blog, a corporate website or just a portfolio website need to now look beyond CSS and HTML pages.
PC sales experienced an almost inevitable decline starting in 2012. Main reason for this decline has been the increasing use of tablets and mobile devices.
There have been many times in the past when people have asked experts if "link building was dead or about to die". However, to the surprise of many people link building lived on. Today too link building is not dead it has just changed.
The recent Penguin 2.0 update by Google has affected millions of websites around the world. Many big name websites were also surprisingly affected which had webmasters scrambling to find a solution.


text:
Apple's support forum has been blowing up with complaints from users that battery life has been seriously curtailed since installing iOS 11.4. The problems seems to be reasonably widespread and affects the iPhone line up across the board.
I've seen this issue on the iPhones that I use. It seems to be accompanied by the device running unusually hot. Below is a photo I captured when I used my thermal camera to check the temperature of my iPhone 8 Plus.
It is also unclear if the latest iOS 11.4.1 update fixes the problems as the release notes make no mention of a fix.
The bottom line is that if you've yet to upgrade to iOS 11.4, you might want to wait it out for a fix. If you have and it's killing your battery, then maybe try installing the latest iOS 11.4.1 update.
iOS 11.4.1 tips, tricks, and secrets everyone should know


text:
Police seek diamond Rolex owner after recovery
Police are still looking for the owner of a diamond-encrusted gold ladies’ Rolex watch which they believe was stolen in the South West.
Officers from Zephyr, the region’s serious and organised crime fighting team, recovered the high value item earlier this year after a warrant in Bristol.
The Rolex watch has a black face with a serial number on the reverse and extra diamonds have been added to the strap and the watch face.
Police say further enquiries have revealed it was purchased outside of the UK.
Two other items were also recovered, a pair of 18ct gold diamond rings with claw settings.
You may also want to watch:
Officers believe they may have been stolen during distraction burglaries or crimes against vulnerable victims in the South West.
Anyone with any information as to who owns these items or the owners themselves should contact police on 101.
- 1 Ideas invited for new use of former Sidmouth utility building
- 2 New owner sought for prominent Sidmouth seafront businesses
- 3 Sidmouth woman's legal challenge over care home Covid deaths begins at High Court
- 4 Gold award success for Sidmouth and 'outstanding' community projects praised by South West In Bloom
- 5 Five Things to do in East Devon this October half Term
- 6 Property of the Week: Fortescue Road, Sidmouth
- 7 Read all about it! Toto pays a visit to the bookshop
- 8 Three designer handbags stolen from a shop in Sidmouth
- 9 Supermarket chain planning four new stores in East Devon
- 10 Woman flown to hospital after fall